Nonthrusting pipe expansion joint



April 10, 1945 V L, J. wEBEF f 1 2,373,280

NONTHRUSTING PIPE EXPANS ION JOINT Filed July 6, 1943 INVENTORY L WEBER Q A r'roiauzvs I;

Patented Apr-10,1945

r m-Tao 's'rA rEs, PATENT OFFICE 2,873,280 w r nonrnausrmc rim: EXPANSION 101M" 7} Louis Joe Weber,Borger,Tex.,assign Petroleum Company, a corporation of De orto Phillips Application July 6. 1943, Serial No. 493,660

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a pipe expansion joint and it has particular relation tosuch joints in lines having large thermal ranges and high pressures.

' One object of this invention. is to provide an expansion joint which will operate under temperature conditions of 1200' F., to meet present plant conditions and also operate at 1600 F. or higher temperature when such becomes necessary in future plants.

Another object of this invention is to provide an expansion Joint in which the fiuid pressure tending to separate the telescopic portions 01' the shaft is balanced by an opposing force also created by the fluid. r

- In relation to this last object it is an object of this invention to provide an expansion joint which will not require large expensive anchors for holding the paragraph above.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an expansion joint in which a positive stop to telescopic motion is provided in both directions so that the pipes will notibecome uncoupled or telescope together more than desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide sufficient bearing area properly disposed so that the pipes will keep themselves .in good alignment at all times regardless of the extent of expansion.

Other objects are to provide a, joint having the characteristics the above objects and advantages to persons skilled in the art by following description. drawing These and additional objects will .be apparent reference to the and claim.

lem is the expansion joints are often located in a tower at a great height from the ground. The expansion temperature causes greater expansion than usual and the great height and position in packing the pipes is approximately 353,000 pounds. This problem of dealing with high temperatures and.

large forces has been solved by the expansion joint disclosed herein using fool-proof simple stufling box and piston-packing, by balancing out the force, and by the other features of the invention discussed fully below with reference to the annexed drawing. I

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is an elevational view partly in section and with parts broken away showing a, preferred embodiment of my invention.

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view of the expanslon Joint shown in Figure 1 taken along the line 2- looking in the direction indicated.

In Figure 1 is shown an expansion joint of the bell and spigot type. Spigot i projects into hell 2 for telescoping movement relative thereto, and can be rotated at ,times relative thcretofor purposes of adjustment. Spigot i is provided with an external annular flange 4 which may be a separate element but is preferably made integral with l k 1; Bell 2 which has a loose fit on spigot i is enwhich acts as cylinder i 2,

secured to cylinder 12 .by cylinder head bolts i3, cylinder l2 being thickenedat |4.to provide necessary strength.

In order to on bell member 2 and cylinder head ring 3 to seal withspigot i. For the same reason piston pa'ckinggland l is provided on flange 4 to cooperate with cylinder i2. Packing material I5 is provided made of any suitable asbestos type high-pressure high-temperature material. Studs and nuts ii are proi'rom outside. I

In order to balance the endthrust caused by pressureof the fluid tending to p'ush'spigot i out of bell 2, holes 6 are cut der' i2 and holes 5 are spigoti, just to the left of flange 4. Obviously I in the right end of cylincut through the wall of fluid inside of spigot i,

pressure spigot I, is equal to the area of equal, the slip be compressed as it passes out hole to balance with the atmosphere.

Holes 8 are preferably positioned so that access is provided'to nuts I! anl II on packing glands I and 8 respectively for adjustment without dismantling the joint.

The area of flange 4 is easily calculated by elementary principles .of hydraulics. The end thrust, thereby balanced, 'if there is no flow through pipe I extending to its external surface and having the radius R1 shown in Figure 2 multiplied by thepressrlre above atmospheric or the fluid in pipe 2. V This endthrust may be balanced by an equal force in the opposite direction by making flange 4 present an area equal to the area of spigot I mentioned above. Since passages 5 permit the same pressure to act on the left hand face of the piston will be in hydraulic balance and will'not move in either direction unless some external force is applied, such as temperature expansion of pipe attached to spigot 2 or both. I

If there is flow, then in theory the right end of spigot I will be at a diflerent pressure than the pressure at holes 5. From a practical standpoint with fluids of normal viscosity and normal rates of flow and with I "so relatively close to the right end of spigot I, this difference in pressure is too small to be considered. If the use of unusually rapid flow were contemplated, it would be very simple to calculate the amount the annular area of 4 should be larger or smaller than the circular area of the external diameter or spigot I to give hydraulic balance with the desired velocity and direction of flow and the desired pressure for this particular operation.

The three packing rings. I5 cause a frictional force to appear when any force (such as thermal expansion or contraction of the pipelines attached to flanges Ill and II) tends to move spigot I and bell 2 relative to each other. This frictional force is relatively small with the usual packing material I5 sliding relatively easily on the smooth surfaces of spigot I and cylinder I2. This force is not enough to require anchors on the pipelines connected at III and II, but if anchors are provided they may be of light construction instead of weighing the great weights necessary to resist the unbalanced endthrust of the, simple expansion Joints of the prior art.

If desired the pressure areas of the piston 4 and spigot I may be varied in any'ratio, giving expand the telescoping connection of spigot I and bell 2 if the annular piston area 4 is smaller than the right hand end of the spigot I, or to contract the telescoping connection it the annular piston area is larger than the right hand end of spigot I. This is obviously useful in some pipe assemblies.

Flange I0 is preferably screw-threaded to spigot I and flange II is preferably made integral with bell 2. To these, flanges I0 and II, similar flanged pipe, is connected in either direction, and it is the expansion of this pipe which is compenthe expansion joint shown in Fig 8. cross section of y 4, and the areas involved are point, as it is obvious the expansion joint will opcrate-on scre -threaded pipelines, bell and spigot pipelines. or any other type of connected pipelines such as welded ones without any change except in its connection to the pipeline, .which change would be obvious as it would merely repeat the old joint in the pipeline in place of flanges III and l l. 1.: r.

The,relative movement of spigot 1 and bell 2 is provided with a positive stop means in either direction as follows:

the pipe attached to spigot I or the 4 and head 3 will limit Untelescoping movement is limited by piston 4 coming in contact with cylinder head ring, 3. Piston 4 is preferably provided with a recess it which will receive the enlargement I9 on cylinder head ring 3 containing packing I5. This interfitting of recess IB and enlargement I9 provides a longer stroke, but the contact of piston the movement regardless of the shape of the contacting surfaces.

Telescoping movement is preferably limited by contact of end 20 of spigot I with seat 2| in bell 2. If desired however, the parts may be proportioned so that gland 'I will strike gland 8 to limit the telescoping movement while end 20 is still removed from seat 2|; or both sets of parts I, 8, 20 and 2! may contact at the same time to divide the forces involved between them.

While operations have been described in which the fluid in pipes I and 2 is at greater than atmospheric pressure, the expansion joint of this application can be used where the fluid is at atmospheric, or much less than atmospheric pressure. When the fluid in the pipes is at less than atmospheric pressure the tendency of the atmosphere to telescope the pipes is then balanced by the tendency of the atmosphere to force piston 4 and cylinder head 3 together.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art a that minor changes may be made in parts, such as making cylinder I2 separable instead of integral with bell 2, and yet remain within the scope of this invention which is defined in scope by the following claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

A pipeline expansion joint comprising in combination a flrst pipe having an external annular piston spaced from one end thereof, said first pipe having a hole through the wall thereof adiacent to said piston, said hole being locatedon the opposite side of said piston from said end, a second pipe receiving said end and said piston in telescoping relationship in cylinders of suitable diameter, an annular cylinder head-on the piston receiving cylinder, said cylinder head rethe joint a desired amount of force tending to c5 and a third adjustable packing between the justed' from outside said joint.

ceivingsaid first pipe for relative sliding movement therethrough. a first adjustable packing between the first pipe and the second pipe, a first operating member extending through said first pipe whereby said first packing may be adjusted from outside the joint, a second adjustable pack- .ing between the cylinder head and the first pipe, a second operating member whereby said second packing may be adjusted from outside the joint,

piston and the piston cylinder, said piston cylinder having a hole adjacent the end oppositethe cylinder head of large enough size forinsertion of a tool whereby said third packing maybe ad- LOUIS Jon 

